Control safeguards for infusion pump

Abstract

Infusion pump control safeguards are provided by using multiple controller cores to ensure proper operation of an infusion pump. Each controller core controls specific operations of the pump and is interconnected with each other to monitor the operation of the other controller cores. The controller cores may include a pump controller core, the supervisor controller core, a System Controller Core, and a User Interface Controller Core. The Pump Controller Core is dedicated to control pump motor movement. No other controller core has direct access to the pump motor with a limited exception of the supervisor controller core, which can stop power flow to the pump motor in the event any one of the other controller cores is determined to be behaving improperly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An infusion pump for pumping fluid through a tube, the infusion pump comprising:
 a pump motor configured to pump a fluid through the tube;   a power source for the pump motor; and   a controller for controlling the pump motor, the controller comprising multiple controller cores adapted to ensure proper operation of the pump motor, wherein each controller core controls specific operations of the infusion pump and is interconnected with each other controller core to monitor operation of the other controller cores, the multiple controller cores including a supervisor controller core that is adapted to stop power flow to the pump motor from the power source if any one of the other multiple controller cores is determined to be behaving improperly.   
     
     
         2 . The infusion pump of  claim 1 , wherein the supervisor controller core monitors the health of all other controller cores of the multiple controller cores in the infusion pump. 
     
     
         3 . The infusion pump of  claim 2 , wherein the supervisor controller core monitors the health of other controller cores of the multiple controller cores in the infusion pump by monitoring electrical keepalive pulses at a predetermined frequency and determines that a controller core is behaving improperly when a keepalive signal has a frequency outside of a predetermined tolerance. 
     
     
         4 . The infusion pump of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple controller cores include a pump controller core that controls movement of the pump motor. 
     
     
         5 . The infusion pump of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple controller cores include a system controller core and a user interface controller core that control operations of the infusion pump including at least one of graphical user input/output, infusion state logic, alarms, or configurations. 
     
     
         6 . A method of providing control safeguards for an infusion pump including a pump motor configured to pump a fluid through a tube, a power source for the pump motor, and a controller for controlling the pump motor, the controller comprising multiple controller cores adapted to ensure proper operation of the pump motor, each controller core controlling specific operations of the infusion pump and being interconnected with each other controller core, comprising:
 each controller core monitoring operation of the other controller cores of the multiple controller cores; and   a supervisor controller core stopping power flow to the pump motor from the power source if any one of the other multiple controller cores is determined to be behaving improperly.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the supervisor controller core monitoring the health of all other controller cores of the multiple controller cores in the infusion pump. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein monitoring the health of other controller cores of the multiple controller cores in the infusion pump comprises monitoring electrical keepalive pulses at a predetermined frequency and determining that a controller core is behaving improperly when a keepalive signal has a frequency outside of a predetermined tolerance. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising controlling movement of the pump motor using a pump controller core of the multiple controller cores. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising controlling operations of the infusion pump including at least one of graphical user input/output, infusion state logic, alarms, or configurations using at least one of a system controller core or a user interface controller core of the multiple controller cores. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for providing control safeguards for an infusion pump including a pump motor configured to pump a fluid through a tube, a power source for the pump motor, and a controller for controlling the pump motor, the controller comprising multiple controller cores adapted to ensure proper operation of the pump motor, each controller core controlling specific operations of the infusion pump and being interconnected with each other controller core, the instuctions, when executed by the multiple controller cores, performing the following:
 each controller core monitoring operation of the other controller cores of the multiple controller cores; and   a supervisor controller core stopping power flow to the pump motor from the power source if any one of the other multiple controller cores is determined to be behaving improperly.